Barrel apparatus



Nov. 8, 1966 L R. RICHARDSON 3,283,944

BARREL APPARATUS Filed June 19, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN van; Tol.

Nov. s, 196e R- R'CHARDSON 3,283,944

BARREL APPARATUS Filed June 19, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nav. s, 196e R- RCHARDSON 3,283,944

Nov. 8, 1966 J. R. RICHARDSON 3,283,944

BARREL APPARATUS Filed June 19, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Y @M JW United States Patent Oillice 3,283,944 Patented Nov. 8, 1966 3,283,944 BARREL APPARATUS James Richard Richardson, Har-borne, Birmingham, England, assignor to Richardson Engineering (Birmingham) Limited, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, a British company Filed .lune 19, 1963, Ser. No. 288,981 Claims priority, application Great Britain, .lune 20, 1962, 23,680/ 62 2 Claims. (Cl. 220-41) This invention relates to rotatable barrel apparatus of the type in which work pieces are contained within a rotatable barrel such barrels being used for tumbling, shot blasting, plating or other similar operations Iwhich may be performed therein and it is the object of the present invention to provide a new or improved construction of such barrel apparatus.

According to the present invention I provide rotatable barrel apparatus including a rotatably mounted inner barrel having a door opening formed therein, two sets of catch means, each set of catch means being mounted on the barrel on opposite sides of the door opening, a door slidably mounted on the barrel and slidable under gravity across the door opening from an open position to a closed position and vice-versa, projections mounted on said door adjacent to edges thereof, the one projection adjacent the one edge of the door being engageable by one of said sets of catch means and the projection adjacent the other edge of the door being engageable by the said other set of catch means, operating means mounted on the apparatus and selectively engageable with either one of said sets of catch means dependent upon the angular position of the barrel to release one of said sets of catch means from engagement with the door whereby the door may slide under gravity from its open position to its closed positione or vice versa and to be held therein by said other set of catch means.

Preferably each set of catch means comprises one or more spring loaded pawls pivotally mounted on the barrel and the operating means comprises a cam adapted to bear upon a part of either one of the pawls to cause it to pivot and become disengaged from the corresponding cooperating projection on the door.

One embodiment of rotatable barrel apparatus. constructed in accordance with the invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE l is a front elevation of the complete apparatus with part of the outer casing round the barrel being removed and the door of the barrel being shown in its closed position.

FIGURE 2 is a side sectional view of the barrel showing the door in its closed position, the outer casing of the apparatus being partly cut away.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation of the barrel showing the door in its closed position.

FIGURES 4 to 10 are diagrammatic views showing the position of the barrel door during a complete cycle of operations.

In this construction the rotatable barrel apparatus is of the type used for tumbling metal work pieces therein whilst at the same time subjecting the work pieces to a shot blasting process.

' Referring to FIGURES 1 to 3 of the drawings, the barrel apparatus comprises an outer cylindrical casing mounted securely in a frame 11 which also carries the motor and driving gear 12 to rotate the inner barrel 13, the barrel 13 being rotated by means of rollers 32 bearing upon the outer rim 33 of the barrel 13, the rollers themselves being driven by a chain drive 34 from the driving gear 12 to sprocket wheels 35 mounted co-axially with the rollers 32. Tfhe casing 10 has an outer door (shown at 29 in FIGURES 4 to 10), which is operated by a motor 14, and the frame 11 also carries the shot blasting apparatus, indicated generally at 15, which itself comprises a motor 16 driving an impeller 17, the shot being re-circulated into the impeller by means of a conveyor 18 driven by a motor 19. The inner barrel 13 comprises a perforated cylindrical drum mounted for r0- tation about a horizontal axis and having an arcuate portion cut-away to define a door opening Iwhereby the barrel may be loaded or unloaded with work pieces.

The d-o-o-r 20 for the inner barrel 13 is formed as a perforated arcuate metal section of substantially the same dimensions as the door lopening and is so mounted on the barrel 13 so that it may slide circumferen'tially in guide channels therein, or on guide rails, or by any other suitable means from :an open to a closed position and back again around the outer periphery of the barrel lunder the action of gravi-ty when it is in a suitable .angular position to do so.

The door 20 is held in either one of the open or closed positions by means of one of two pivotally mounted spring loaded pawls 21 mounted on rthe barrel 13 'and adapted rto engage with a co-operating project-ion 22 formed adjacent each edge of the door 20.

The projection 22 at each edge of the door comprises an upstanding triangular lug which is engaged in the latched position by a hook por-tion 23 of one of the spring loaded pawls 21. Each spring loaded pawl 21 is pivotally mounted within a `suitable bearing 24 on the barrel 13 and has a tail portion 25 extending rearwardly from the hook portion 23 thereof. A light compression spring 26 acts between the outer surface of the barrel 13 and this tail portion 25 to urge the hook portion 23 towards the surface of the barrel, i.e. into .latching engagement with the projection 22 on the door.

The tail portion 25 of each spring loaded pawl 21 is convex outwardly and is adapted to be engaged by a cam 27 mounted on .a pivot pin 28 `at a slightly oiset posi- -tion from the top dead-centre of the barrel and .above it, so that, with reference to FIGURE 2, clockwise rotation of the cam Wil-l cause it to bear upon the tail portion 25 of one of the pawls 21 to remove the hook portion 23 thereof from latching engagement with the door, this disengaged position being shown in chain-dotted lines in FIGURE 2.

In order to clarify the invention still further a full .sequence of operations will now 'be described from the loading of work pieces int-o the barrel to the discharging of the work pieces therefrom, the direction of rotation of the barrel being shown by the arrows in FIGURES 4 to 10.

The outer door 29 in the casing 10 of the barrel apparatus is opened by operation of the motor 14 and the inner rotating barrel 13 brought to rest with the door opening opposite the door opening in the outer casing as shown in FIGURE 4 Iof the drawings. The doo-r 20 to the inner barrel 13 is held in the open position by means -of the projection 22 on its upper edge engaging under the hook portion 23 of the spring loaded pawl 21 which is mounted at substantially the same distance circumferentially from the edge of the door opening .as lthe width of the actual door so that the d-oor is completely clear of the opening.

Work pieces are then loaded into the barrel by any suitable means such as a chute 30 and the outer door 29 of the housing is closed. The mot-or 12 is started to rotate the barrel 13 and the cam 27 is then operated either mechanically or electronically to bear upon the curved tail portion 25 of the spring loaded pawl thereby releasing the door 20` which, due to the angular position lof the barrel 13, will slide down under gravity on its guide Arails until the projection lon its lower edge engages under the hook portion 23 of the second spring loaded pawl which is mounted adjacent the bottom edge of the door opening, this position being shown in FIGURE 5. Alternatively the cam 27 may be operated before the motor 12 is started to -r-otate the barrel.

The cam 27 is then released and the barrel continues to rotate for a predetermined time, an intermediate position being shown in FIGURE 6, after which time, at the position shown in FIGURE 7, the door 29 of the casing is opened and the cam 27 again opera-ted so that as the inner barrel 13 rotates the cam 27 will bear upon the curved tail portion 25 of the second spring loaded pawl `thereby releasing `the door which, due to fthe angular position of the barrel 13, then slides under gravity to its open position and -is retained in-this posit-ion by means of the first spring loaded pawl, -this position being shown 'in FIGURE 8.

As the door opening in the inner barrel 13 reaches its lowest point, as shown in FIGURE 9, the work pieces discharge themselves under gravity on to a suitable chute 31 built into the housing 10 ,and the barrel is then brought to :rest with t-he door opening in the barrel 13 opposite the door opening in the housing 10, i.e. in the ready for loading position as shown in FIGURE 10.

Alternatively the -inner barrel may be braked so that as the door opening comes to the bottom of the housing the inner barrel 13 is brought to rest and the work pieces discharge themselves from the barrel on to the chute 31, the barrel then being further rotated into the loading position.

The barrel is 'then ready for re-loading land the same sequence of yoperations is applied, this sequence being capable of being opena-ted electroni-cally if required for a predetermined time of rotation.

What I claim then is:

1. Rotatable barrel apparatus comprising,

(a) a barrel mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and having a door opening in its circumferential wall,

(b) a door slidably mounted on the exterior of the barrel and moveable circumferentially thereof between van open position and a position in which it closes said door opening,

(c) first catch means mounted on the barrel exterior and spaced circumferentially away from ythe leading edge of said door opening,

(d) a rst projection on the leading edge of said door engageable by said tirst catch means to hold the door in the open position,

(e) second catch means mounted on the barrel exterior adjacent the trailing edge of said door opening,

(f) a second projection on the trailing edge of the said door engage-able by said second catch means to hold the door in -the closed position and,

(g) an operating member mounted in a xed position above .the barrel adjacent the top dead-centre posit-ion thereof and selectively engageable with one or other of sa-id catch means, during rotation `of the barrel, to yrelease it from engagement with its associa-ted projection.

2. Rotatable barrel apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each catch means comprises a pawl pivotally mounted on the barrel, there being spring means holding the pawl in its engaged position and wherein `the operating member comprises a cam pivotally mounted fabove the barrel end moveable from .an inoperative position into a position in which it lies in .the path of movement of the pawls during rotation of `the barrel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 947,700 1/ 1910 Raymond 220-41 1,502,872 7/ 1924 `Oberg 220-41 2,316,674 4/ 1943 Dow.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Examiner. 

1. ROTATABLE BARREL APPARATUS COMPRISING, (A) A BARREL MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS AND HAVING A DOOR OPENING IN ITS CIRCUMFERENTIAL WALL, (A) A DOOR SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE BARREL AND MOVEABLE CIRCUMFERENTIALLY THEREOF BETWEEN AN OPEN POSITION AND A POSITION IN WHICH IT CLOSES SAID DOOR OPENING, (C) FIRST CATCH MEANS MOUNTED ON THE BARREL EXTERIOR AND SPACED CIRCUMFERENTIALLY AWAY FROM THE LEADING EDGE OF SAID OPENING, (D) A FIRST PROJECTING ON THE LEADING EDGE OF SAID DOOR ENGAGEABLE BY SAID FIRST CATCH MEANS TO HOLD THE DOOR IN THE OPEN POSITION, (E) SECOND CATCH MEANS MOUNTED ON THE BARREL EXTERIOR ADJACENT THE TRAILING EDGE OF SAID DOOR OPENING, 